In collaboration with the Bolashak International Scholarship, the GW School of Business welcomed new cohorts of Kazakhstani academics to campus during the 2024-25 academic year to help them improve their teaching and research skills.
The year-long program supported by the government of Kazakhstan aims to prepare the next generations of leaders in various fields.
“The scholars come through GW for a year. They come to learn about management and education research—teaching, research methods,” said Homayoun Khamooshi, who directs GW’s Master of Science in Project Management program. “We designed a program with three objectives: to develop educational skills, to develop research skills and to publish a paper on their research.”
Bolashak International Scholarship awarded its first all-expenses paid scholarship in 2013. GW has been a partner in the program since 2023, welcoming two cohorts of faculty from universities in Kazakhstan each year. The cohorts’ arrivals are staggered and the number of participants has risen with each successive year. From six participants in the first group in 2023, the school welcomed 19 and 20 scholars in the most recent cohorts.
Khamooshi, who is an associate industry professor of decision sciences, said the scholars took part in lectures and learning modules designed to build their skills in course design and curriculum development, research methods and models, academic paper writing and teaching innovation. In conjunction, the scholars were mentored by School of Business faculty.
They also took part in a mini-conference at which they could present some of their research findings. To deepen their understanding of U.S. culture and history, the scholars took field trips to Pennsylvania and Richmond, Virginia. And they had multiple opportunities for professional networking.
Although 90 percent of the Kazakhstani scholars’ activities took place at the School of Business, there was also some interaction with faculty from the Elliott School of International Affairs.
“We have delivered a solid program. And the interaction is good for us because of the connections being made,” Khamooshi said.